Reference is hereby made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 563,198, filed Dec. 19, 1983 for Seeding Apparatus with Fertilizer Applicator now U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,141.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a furrow opener for seeder that has dual outlet tubes for the seed and a positive sealing plate which also forms small furrows for receiving the seed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Seed and fertilizer applicators are widely used at the present time. It has also been recognized that furrow opener shanks that have two vertical passageways can be utilized for applying seed and/or fertilizer in a furrow. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,530 shows a planting apparatus having a shank that deposits seeds through two different passageways in the shank and at two different depths. This patent also illustrates a dual outlet tube which places seed laterally of the center line of the shank in two separate paths to separate the seed from the furrow in which fertilizer will be deposited.
The prior art also shows devices such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,189 for planting at two different depths. U.S. Pat. No. 909,991 shows a grain drill shoe that has two passageways near the furrow opener, but does not have two individual fore and aft extending passageways for depositing material.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,889,788 and 2,048,441 also show furrow opener assemblies of interest, and these devices use two separate tubes for depositing material at different levels in the same furrow.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,111 shows an implement for sod seeding that has two different types of materials being deposited through a vertical shank, which includes a sealing and covering plate for pulverizing and packing the soil in the furrow and depositing seed on top of this pulverized soil. The particular shoe or blade has an opening at the rear which is shaped to permit a central portion of the pulverized soil to be built up in a type of a mound. The side portions of this shoe extend downwardly to intentionally build up this mound so that the rear slit builds this mound around the path of the seed that is being planted. The device makes grooves on opposite sides of the seed path, but the seed bed is the top or center of the formed mound on which the seed is deposited. The concept is to shave off the hard soil from the sides of the furrow and form a loose soil bed in the center portions of the furrow where the seed is deposited, so that the seed will rest on the center portion of the bed being formed.